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High gas prices take bite out of holiday traffic

The state says $4-a-gallon gasoline prices took their toll on this year’s holiday travel, because traffic was down about 3 percent this Memorial Day weekend compared to last year.

The state Department of Transportation said its data show drivers checked its traffic pages nearly 4 million times before they embarked on trips and made choices that reduced peak-time traffic on Friday and Monday afternoons.

“We have the data that shows people checked the travel pages and apparently what they saw caused them to change their mind about when to leave,” said Dave McCormick, WSDOT Regional Administrator for Maintenance and Operations. “High gas prices certainly weighed on their decision as well.”

Data released by the state Wednesday show:

On Snoqualmie Pass, 6,100 fewer drivers traveled Friday through Monday. There were 5,000 fewer drivers on Friday, 400 fewer on Saturday, 1,700 fewer on Sunday and 1,700 fewer on Sunday. State spokeswoman Jamie Holter said holiday pass traffic totaled 182,000 vehicles all four days, meaning that a year ago it topped 108,000.

On state Route 16 through the Tacoma Narrows Bridge traffic was 5 percent less this year than last year on Friday and about one percent less on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Comparable totals were not given.

On Interstate 5 between Seattle and the U.S./Canada border, 3,900 fewer vehicles made the trip this yaar, a drop of 3.5 percent from Friday to Monday. The biggest decreases were on Sunday and Monday.

At the Lewis-Thurston County border there were 2,900 fewer vehicles on Sunday; on Monday there were 2,500 fewer than last year, a 4 percent decrease.

The drops in traffic come despite increases in population but follow a recent trend showing people are driving less.

“This wasn’t really a surprise,” said state traffic engineer Ted Trepanier. “It’s clear from our data that the high gas prices are forcing people to change their habits.” The state also reported that the number of travelers sharing rides or commuting in van pools has increased.

The numbers from Washington mirror national numbers. According to the Federal Highway Administration, the number of miles traveled declined in March 2008 compared to March 2007 – the first time this has happened since 1979 when a second oil embargo took place and gas prices also reached historic highs.

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